This thing happens when you become a mum; you suddenly have too many clothes.
Too many clothes that you feel like you can’t wear. You are in closet-limbo… not wanting to get rid of the beautiful nostalgic reminders from your clubbing (a.k.a freedom) days and not wanting to accept that you just might be stuck with your new mum-tum.
We've broken it down into the three main ‘drobes:
1. Pre-baby clothing. All the beautiful things you bought because they looked great, you could wear them on a night out with the girls, well, you could wear them full stop. Now they either don’t fit or are so supremely impractical, that they just hang there – like museum pieces. Too precious or expensive to throw away but too nice to place on rotation in every day mum life.
Maternity wear. All the stuff you bought to fit your growing bump. Stretchy pants, maternity tees, baby shower or special occasion dresses designed to accommodate your baby belly. Not to mention the support garments, the belts, the bands and the undies used to relieve your spine of the weight the resident baby has added. And most importantly – maternity bras, bigger, slightly uglier bras made for containing milk-makers but oh-so-comfy.Some of this clothing still gets a look in, but mostly you are just keeping it ‘for next time’.
The rest. These are the pieces of clothing that you wear on high rotation. Made up mostly of high street specials because the kids spew/wipe/excrete stuff on you on the regular – no point trying to wear something ‘nice’. We don’t invest in this wardrobe because we hope it will be temporary, because we feel like there’s no point. We hope to shift the baby weight, or we hope our baby will grow out of her reflux and stop throwing up left, right and centre. It all can be thrown in the washing machine and lacks the personal style we once may have prided ourselves on. The sad reality is though, that this wardrobe is what becomes our new ‘go-to’ and so many women don’t feel like it is worth investing in.
So how do we combine the three wardrobes? How do we fix this situation? Well, look there are some things that are pretty hard to get use out of post-baby (i.e. support garments, I’m yet to see someone rocking some preggo knickers in a number of different, stylish ways).
It’s all about versatility. Finding pieces that are going to work over all three wardrobes. Like
a kimono for example: perfect for evening wear or getting dressed up (tick: pre-baby clothing), great when pregnant (tick: maternity wardrobe) and super useful for dressing up any ‘mumsy’ outfit (tick: the rest).
Finding comfy, quality, stretchy clothing will take you through all stages of motherhood – it can stretch over a bump and be worn with some pretty accessories to take it to another level.
When you buy something for yourself, see if you can think of at least 3 different ways you can wear it… get more bang for your buck!
I’m so passionate about mums investing in themselves, not being afraid to put themselves first. Clothing is an easy and totally justifiable way to start. Invest in quality pieces that will go the extra mile, instead of styles only found on the bargain-rack is a great way to begin filling your own cup.
Author: Jessie Parker
www.bornetoo.com.au